Tech:NYC Digest: January 3

Tech:NYC Digest: January 3

January 03, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Monday, January 3, 2022

Happy New Year and welcome back! ✨ In today’s digest, catch up on the latest with NYC’s Omicron surge, new mayor Eric Adams’ first days in office, and the once-again delayed return to office.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 51,698

    • New positive cases, NYC: 29,246

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 22.3 percent

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 95.0 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 84.0 percent 

Today in COVID: 

After a holiday break defined by skyrocketing case numbers across the state, New Yorkers today returned to work and students returned to school:

  • New COVID-19 infections continue to soar far above previous peaks due to the Omicron variant. (Wall Street Journal)

    • Most of the last week saw new pandemic records in the number of new confirmed cases. NYC is now averaging 40,000+ new cases every day, with a positivity rate above 20 percent. (When we last sent this newsletter two weeks ago, just before the holiday break, the statewide positivity rate was 4.4 percent.)

    • COVID hospitalizations in NYC today surpassed 5,000 for the first time since spring 2020.

  • Newly-sworn in Mayor Eric Adams’ first executive order continues the state of emergency due to COVID-19, and the second extends mandates that restaurants, theaters, and other indoor settings require proof of vaccination. (New York Post)

  • On New Year’s Eve, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled what she called her “Winter Surge Plan 2.0.” (PIX 11) Some details include:

    • The launch of six new testing sites, as well as two new testing sites at MTA stations, in addition to previously announced MTA pop-ups.

    • The extension of the mask requirement for businesses and other public settings that don’t screen for proof of vaccination.

    • A requirement that all SUNY and CUNY students receive booster shots and submit negative tests to return to campus.

  • An updated list of city-run COVID testing locations, including mobile vans and pop-up sites, can be found here.

  • Despite the surge in cases, new Mayor Eric Adams committed to keeping the city’s schools open. (Gothamist) Mayor Adams has continued plans put in place by former Mayor de Blasio that double the amount of weekly testing conducted at school sites for both vaccinated and unvaccinated students.

    • If a student tests positive, all classmates will be given free at-home rapid tests to prevent entire classrooms from shifting to remote learning. (ABC New York)

  • The FDA has expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12 to 15. The agency also shortened the time needed before receiving a booster shot from at least six months after completion of the initial series to at least five months. (CNN)

In related reading:

  • Will Omicron Meet Its Match in the Perseverance of New Yorkers? (New York Times)

  • Where to Get Home COVID Tests and Why They’re So Hard to Find (New York Magazine)

  • What Fresh Hell Is ‘Flurona’? (The Cut)

  • Seriously, Upgrade Your Face Mask (New York Magazine)

  • Going Out and Worried About Covid Safety? There’s a Calculator for That. (New York Times)

The emergence of the Omicron variant has put almost all office plans on hold — again. (Bloomberg)

In recent days, more companies have begun to backtrack on workplace policies. Some are telling employees to stay home with just days, or even hours, to spare before their planned returns. (New York Times)

  • Initially hesitant Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Blackstone have caved to allowing their employees to start 2022 working from home. (New York Times)

  • Some companies with vaccine mandates have said they will begin enforcing them by docking pay or firing employees for noncompliance.

Constant shifts in RTO policies have left workers in a state of limbo with more questions than answers. (Fortune)

  • Employees are getting sparse information on what this all means for those who moved during the pandemic, how far in advance they will get the next RTO update, and what their child care situations will look like.

Yet executives don’t appear to have any more answers than workers do. (New York Times)

  • At companies large and small, 2021 was a year that played havoc with expectations. Through it all, CEOs often had to fall back on unfamiliar territory, responding with “I don’t know,” or even, “I changed my mind.” 2022 is so far starting on the same foot.

In other reading:

  • Burnout dominated 2021. Here’s the history of our burnout problem. (Washington Post)

  • The 'Great Redefinition' Of Work In 2022 (Forbes)

  • City Workers Who’ve Been Forced Back to the Office Speak (New York Magazine)

  • Ampla Technologies, a New York City-based provider of financing to consumer-facing SMEs, raised $40 million in Series A funding. VMG Partners and Forerunner Ventures co-led the round and were joined by insider Core Innovation Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Arcade, a New York City-based platform to provide NFT liquidity infrastructure, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Pantera Capital led the round and was joined by Castle Island Ventures, Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund, Golden Tree Asset Management, Eniac Ventures, Protofund, Probably Nothing Capital, and Lemniscap. (PYMNTS)

  • Carats & Cake, a New York City-based marketing and POS financing solution for venues, raised $19.3 million in seed funding. Acrew Capital and Founders Fund co-led, and were joined by 1Sharpe Ventures, Moore Specialty Credit, Correlation Ventures, GMO VenturePartners, and Socially Financed. (BusinessWire)

  • Figment, a New York City-based blockchain infrastructure and service provider, raised $110 million in Series C funding at a $1.4 billion valuation. Thoma Bravo led the round and was joined by Counterpoint Global, Binance, Mirae Asset, ParaFi Capital, Avon Ventures, Fidelity, Bitstamp, CMS Holdings, Two Sigma, B Capital Group, Franklin Templeton, DTCP, and StarkWare. (CoinDesk)

  • Hyperscience, a New York City-based human centered automation company, raised $100 million in Series E funding. The round was led by existing investors Global Founders Capital, Tiger Global, Stripes, and Bessemer Venture Partners. (BusinessWire)

  • iCapital Network, a New York City-based fintech platform for alternative investing, raised $50 million in new venture funding. WestCap led the round and was joined by Apollo and Temasek. (Reuters)

  • Taptap Send, a New York City-based cross-border financial startup, raised $65 million in Series B funding. Spark Capital led, and was joined by Unbound, Reid Hoffman, Canaan Partners, Slow Ventures, Breyer Capital, Wamda Capital, and Flourish Ventures. (TechCrunch)

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.